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The state-owned firm has discussed the potential offering with advisers as it looks for new avenues to fund its 5G network development, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the discussions are private. Deliberations are at an early stage and China Mobile hasn’t decided the size and timeline of the listing, the people said.
A representative for China Mobile didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Shares in China Mobile were up 1.5% in early trading in Hong Kong, after rising as much as 2.4%. They have climbed nearly 20% this year, giving the company a market value of around $139 billion.
The NYSE in January delisted the three major state-owned carriers — China Mobile, China Telecom (NYSE:CHA) Corp. and China Unicom (NYSE:CHU) Hong Kong Ltd. — to comply with an executive order by former president Donald Trump barring U.S. investments in Chinese firms deemed as having links with the military. The firms are appealing the NYSE’s moves.
China Mobile raised $4.2 billion in an initial public offering in 1997 with its shares listed in both Hong Kong and New York, according to its website. The company had explored a listing on the mainland in 2007 but it didn’t come to fruition in the end.
A revival of the planned domestic share sale by the country’s largest carrier would follow that of China Telecom, which announced last week that it’s planning a second listing in Shanghai. The offering will help China Telecom tap diversified financing channels in both domestic and overseas capital markets, the company has said.
(Updates with share price move in fourth paragraph.)
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